Development and application of the irradiation facility in HFETR

With the demand for life extension and the design life improvement for the in-service and new nuclear power plants, the neutron flux becomes higher during the irradiation of structural materials used in the nuclear reactors, leading to a sharp increase in material irradiation time. Correspondingly, the research period increases and cannot meet the project progress requirements. In the paper, an irradiation facility used in the high flux area of the High Flux Engineering Test Reactor (HFETR) was successfully developed according to the characteristics of the HFETR, and the problem of the material temperature control in the Ø63 mm irradiation channel was also solved. The irradiation facility can greatly shorten the material irradiation test cycle and has been successfully applied in the engineering test. (authors)